Love is a-brewing
by Sophia Musgraves
Summary: Ever since Lily Evans has been forced to sit next to James in their seventh year potions class, she has loathed it- that is, until they brew Amortentia. Could that smell that lingers around James be more than just smelly socks and Quidditch?


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter boo hoo

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Lily Evans dragged her feet on the way to her next class, Potions, hoping that Peeves would seriously injure her so she wouldn't have to go to class. Sure, it might be her best subject, but it certainly wasn't her favourite. Perhaps it was because none of her close friends had chosen to take it in seventh year, or perhaps it was because James bloody Potter had.

And had sat next to her, too.

Lily rolled her eyes._ Trust that to have happened_, she said to herself, thinking back...

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**She had walked into the classroom a little apprehensively- it was the first day back and she had no idea who was in the class that she knew, let alone who she could sit by. Her eyes had immediately flicked to Sev- no, _Snape _where he looked at her hopefully, sliding his things off the table in case she had finally decided to forgive him and wanted to sit next to him this year. Huh. Like that would happen, Lily had thought bitterly. Some things you just can't forgive, and being called a 'mudblood' by your best friend was one of them. Lily's eyes had then gone on to search the room quickly, looking for an alternative, ignoring Se-Snape's crestfallen face, until she spotted Remus Lupin, one of her (albeit few) male friends. Lily's face had lit up, and she'd bounced over to him in delight, plonking her books and herself down beside him. "Remus!" She had greeted him cheerfully, an easy smile gracing her face.**

"**Hey, Lily," Remus had replied, smiling in welcome. "Fancy seeing you here, I thought for sure you'd be giving this up." he joked, winking at her. Lily laughed, "Never! But I'm surprised to see that Potter has, I thought he wanted to be an Auror? Ah well, good riddance, I s'pose!" she had grinned.**

"**Actually Lily, he-" But Remus had been cut off by Slughorn's booming voice welcoming them to class, and introducing a shifty looking student teacher by the name of Professor Burt, and all thoughts of James were wiped from Lily's mind as she focused. **

**Until halfway through the lesson when he rushed into the classroom. **

**Slughorn had just chuckled when he'd hurtled through the room, yelling apologies before clambering in between Lily and Remus on the bench, and turning towards Remus in a state, completely ignoring Lily. "Merlin, Moony, you should have seen her! I though she was going to explode, her face was so red," he whispered, gesturing wildly. "And then she started going on about how this is the third time I've said Lily's name instead of hers and it just wasn't good enough, Mother of Merlin, I just wanted to die, Moony, I tell you, _die_! And then, if that wasn't enough- what? Why are you waggling your eyebrows at me? Haven't I told you you look ridiculous when you do that? _Wha_- Oh." James cut off suddenly, his hand jumping to his hair, before turning towards Lily. "Lily! I didn't see you there!" Lily raised an eyebrow, her face not giving away the shock she felt at hearing that James had been saying her name instead of his current girlfriend's. Quite frankly, she didn't know whether to be revolted or disgusted. "How are you on this gorgeous summers day, Lily-flower? Although this weather is nowhere as gorgeous as you, apple of my heart!" **

**Lily rolled her eyes. "It's raining, Potter. And you can take that apple, and shove it up your-" But Slughorn had started talking again before she could finish telling James exactly where she would like that apple.**

**James had just grinned at her happily, before turning back to Remus and silently begging to be killed, while Lily made a mental note to never sit near James again. **

**But alas, luck was not on her side, because at the end of the lesson, Slughorn announced that the seats they were in now were going to be their seats for the rest of the year, as to not confuse the student teacher. Although how Professor Burt would get confused with a class of seven, Lily would never know.**

**James, on the other hand, had beamed, and nudged her side gently. "Isn't this great! You get to sit by me all year long, imagine all the things you'll learn from my expertise!" he had whispered.**

**Lily had just rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, painfully.**

* * *

And she sighed again now, having reached the entrance to the dungeon classroom without having sustained any serious injuries on the way. Unfortunately.  
She made her way slowly across the room, before taking her seat beside James and sighing once more.

At once, James clapped a hand across his heart, and gasped in mock shock. "What's this, Lily?! You're not pleased to see me?! Good heavens, what has the world come to!" He cried dramatically, eliciting a laugh from Remus, who tried and failed to quell it after an icy look from Lily.

"Potter, the day I'll be pleased to see you will be the day my future child defeats Voldemort. I.e., _never_."

"What! Our child defeats Voldemort? Lilykins, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Lily snorted elegantly. "Oh please, like I'd want to do anything with _that_." She said, nodding her head towards his body, which, admittedly, wasn't too bad. That was, if you liked bodies that were lean and tanned and toned from Quidditch, with arms that would wrap around a girl nicely…Which Lily didn't. Nope, not at all. Lily detached her eyes from the absolute _torture_ that was James Potter's body just in time to see him wiggle his eyebrows at her suggestively, before striking a ridiculous pose. _A ridiculous pose that showed off his arms really well_ Lily thought, before mentally slapping herself. This was James bloody Potter she was thinking about! Ew! But she couldn't stop the guilty flush that threatened to turn into a fully-fledged blush if she wasn't careful, so after one last satisfying eye roll, she hurriedly turned away ensuring James wouldn't notice her discomfort. And good timing too, as Slughorn had just entered the classroom.

"Good afternoon class!" he said jovially. "Today, I've got something a little special for you to make, Amortentia! The strongest and most potent love potion in the world! Now, who can tell me what the effects…" Lily stopped listening, suddenly hyper-aware of the boy at her right elbow. The one who over the course of their entire time at Hogwarts had done everything and anything to make her fall for him. She gulped and snuck a look at James, only to see him looking right at her.

"Don't worry Lily," he whispered, "When you fall in love with me, it'll be for real."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, then let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, stomach unclenching. She turned her attention back to Slughorn.

"Now, I have a sample of Amortentia here on my desk," He was saying, waving a purple velvet clad arm towards a cauldron bubbling gently, steam rising from it in swirls- "And I want all of you to come up, one by one, and smell it. You see, it smells differently to everyone, and this way you'll be able to know if you've brewed it correctly. We'll start with you, Mr Lupin, then you Mr Potter, Miss Evans…"Slughorn eventually finished deciding the order in which they would smell the potion, and Remus made his way up to the cauldron, bending slightly and sniffing tentatively.  
Instantly, his face transformed- it relaxed, and a great look of contentment stole over it, leaving him smiling blissfully, much to the amusement of the class and Slughorn, who chuckled and steered him gently away from the potion before beckoning James over. Lily watched with interest, wondering what effect it'd have on him. Once again, the effect was instantaneous. He breathed in deeply, slowly, before his eyes met hers as if they had been pulled there by some mysterious force. But it wasn't the way they had been drawn to her that shocked Lily, it was the intensity of his gaze, the pure, unadulterated need that burnt there, the need for her. The strength of his gaze made her cheeks burn, and she was glad when Slughorn tapped him on the shoulder, breaking their eye contact. Lily looked down, taking deep breaths to try and slow her racing heart, to calm the butterflies that had decided to reside in her stomach and make her feel as if elephants were doing a dance show inside her. She kept her head down as she passed James, while his hand jumped into his hair in embarrassment, both buried in confusion about what had just happened._ Could it be that this wasn't all just a big game to James?_ Lily wondered, more confused than ever.

And then suddenly, the potion was right in front of her, an ever so soft pink, nearly clear, with a light pearly sheen, emitting the most seductive scent. Lily bent her head closer to the potion, to get a better whiff of the tantalising smell- and then she smelt it- it smelt like coffee, like parchment and old bookstores, of strawberries, and of something else, something musky, familiar and comfortable, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She breathed in deeply once more, trying to get more of the elusive scent, but too soon, Slughorn's hand was on her shoulder, and Lily made her way back to her seat in a daze, still revelling in the aroma of pure love, content to sit there for an eternity, or until Remus warned her that she'd better get a move on if she wanted to make the potion in time. Lily jumped up, and quickly scanned the list of ingredients on the board, before hurrying over to the cupboards to grab what she needed. When she had gotten everything, she started to walk back to the table, horribly aware of how behind she was. But her mind was elsewhere, and before she knew it, she had run smack bang into a very solid chest. Arms instantly went around her to steady her, pinning her against the very lovely chest, burying her head in the midst of the robes that covered that chest with just the right amount of muscle, and that smelt just like- "Why, you smell just like the potion!" Lily mumbled, still moulded perfectly to the chest, arms still around her like a cocoon of the most wonderful sort.

"I _what?_" came a very startled, very familiar voice. "Did you just say I smelt like the potion?"

Lily gasped and jerked back like she'd been burnt, her face lighting up like a Christmas decoration. "I most certainly did not! I said you smelt disgusting and that you should shower!" And with that, she swept away, leaving a bemused but extremely happy James Potter in her wake, hand buried in his hair as he processed what had just happened.

Back at the table, Lily couldn't stop the radiant smile from spreading over her face.

Maybe potions wouldn't be so bad after all, she decided.

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**A/N: I'd love to hear what you thought of this, as it's my first _published_ story, so any and all reviews are welcome! **

**-Sophia **


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